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McConnell's winning long game gives GOP Senate edge for 2020

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is shown in the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 13, 2018.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is shown in the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 13, 2018.

Photo: Washington Post Photo By Melina Mara

Photo: Washington Post Photo By Melina Mara

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is shown in the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 13, 2018.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is shown in the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 13, 2018.

Photo: Washington Post Photo By Melina Mara

McConnell's winning long game gives GOP Senate edge for 2020

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Mitch McConnell is winning the long game again. The savvy Republican Senate leader will have a fortified majority in January, providing a big cushion heading into his own re-election campaign in 2020 and easing his ability to stock the judiciary with more conservative justices.

With Republicans poised to add several seats to their 51-49 majority when all the votes are counted, Democrats would have to net red states in 2020 - something they failed to do Tuesday night.

McConnell's role included brushing aside challenges from insurgent Republican candidates aligned with former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and helping raise the money needed to defeat entrenched incumbent Democrats. His handling of the Supreme Court nominations, likely securing a conservative majority for a generation, also helped energize Republican voters in red states.

Only two Senate Republicans facing the voters in two years are running in states won by Hillary Clinton in 2016: Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine. Gardner will be the prime target after he oversaw the GOP's campaign committee in leadership this year, while Collins will likely face her stiffest challenge yet after her climactic vote for Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court and the GOP's tax overhaul.

But even knocking off those two incumbents won't be enough. Depending on the outcome of the remaining uncalled races, they could need to win several other seats too. First-term Senators Joni Ernst in Iowa and Thom Tillis in North Carolina face voters in purple states - and the seat held by John McCain in Arizona will also be up for election.

It gets much tougher from there, with Republicans defending much redder states, like Montana, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia and McConnell's own Kentucky.

A lasting GOP majority could have big consequences down the line for the Supreme Court, given McConnell has already successfully blocked a Democratic president from filling an open seat. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the dean of the liberal wing, will be 87 at the next presidential inauguration and Stephen Breyer will be 82.